ISO: MDV
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The electronic version of this document has been prepared at the Fourth
World Conference on Women by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
in collaboration with the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women
Secretariat.
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AS WRITTEN
STATEMENT by Honourable Ms. Raashida Yoosuf
Minister of Youth, Women's Affairs and Sports
of The Republic of Maldives
at the Fourth World Conference on Women;
Equality, Development and Peace
Beijing, 11 September, 1995
Madam President,
Secretary General of the Conference,
Distinguished Delegates.
Assalaam Alaikum...
It is, indeed, a great honour for me to participate in the Fourth World
Conference on Women: Equality, Development and Peace. I bring (greetings
and good wishes of the Government and people of the Maldives to our
gracious hosts and the distinguished participants of this Conference. I
would like to share with you the actions taken by the Maldives towards the
advancement of women and reaffirm my governmentís commitment to integrate
gender perspectives into the policy-making processes and work towards a
gender balance in all areas.
2. At the outset, I would like to thank the Government and the people of
the People's Republic of China, for the excellent arrangements made for
this conference and for the warm hospitality extended to me and my
delegation. I would be failing in my duty if I do not express our deep
appreciation to Ms. Gertrude Mongella, Secretary General of the Fourth
World Conference on Women and Ms. Patricia Licuanan, Chairperson of the
Commission on the Status of Women, for their dedication and commitment to
ensuring genuine equality between women and men.
Madam President,
Distinguished Delegates,
3. We, the women of the Maldives are fortunate to be able to enjoy equal
rights as our men in most areas, including the right to property ownership
and the right to vote. We have equal opportunities in education and equal
pay for equal work. Women are represented in the Citizenís Majlis or the
Parliament, the Citizen's Special Majlis or the Council for Constitutional
Reform and the Cabinet, while a large majority of our civil service
comprises women.
4. The Maldives advocates the active involvement of women in the
mainstream development process. Following the adoption of the Nairobi
Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, the Maldives has
taken several steps to strengthen the national machinery for the
advancement of women in order to increase it's effectiveness and influence
over the promotion of women's equality.
5. In this respect, the then Department of Women's Affairs was upgraded to
ministerial level, under the portfolio of the Ministry of Youth Women's
Affairs and Sports, which portfolio I am proud to be holding.
6. We have acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women and will endeavor to bring our national laws
into line with its provisions wherever necessary.
7. Keeping in view the spirit of development, based on the principles of
equality and social justice and acknowledging the vital role women play in
the development of the country, a national policy on women, has been
developed. Important provisions of the policy include the achievement of a
socially and morally justified partnership between women and men in the
development of the country, on the basis of equality and social justice,
which are political imperatives that no democratic government can ignore.
8. We believe that Beijing Platform for Action must reflect the
fundamental values of family responsibilities, the reality of which cannot
be over emphasized as recognized by the Cairo Conference on Population and
Development. While acclaiming this reality, I am pleased to note that my
Ministry is engaged in finalizing arrangements for convening a national
conference on family integrity, to instill and enhance family values and
responsibilities in the Maldivian society.
9. The task ahead of us is to lay the foundation for real and actual
equality for women. Therefore, it is obvious that we have to translate
into action the national goals we have set for expanding women's economic
capacity and commercial networks and to provide women with access to
credit, savings mechanisms, and to promote womenís self- reliance.
10. In recent years, we have seen the emergence of non- governmental
organisations in the Maldives, working towards advancement of women. I am
happy that some of these NGOs participated in the NGO Forum.
Madam President,
Distinguished Delegates,
11. It is our hope that the coming years will witness an increase in
participation of women all over the world in economic policy and
activities through securing of economic rights for women and women's
access to resources, employment, information, technology and trade; and
the overall elimination of occupational segregation, and the creation of a
flexible work environment, ensuring gender equality in all realms of
society.
12. Inequality in decision-making and power sharing is an issue faced by
many nations. We are committed at national level, to establish a gender
balance in governmental bodies and committees, as well as in other areas,
to achieve equal representation of women and men.
13. Further, every effort possible is being made to integrate women's
concerns in all public policies and generate and disseminate gender
disaggregated data and information.
14. We protect and promote the equal rights of women and men to engage in
political activities and hope that the years ahead will see a significant
increase in the number of women in political decision-making.
Madam President,
Distinguished delegates:
15. We strongly condemn violence against women and the girl-child. Whereas
issues such as trafficking and infanticide, are not major concerns to us
at the national level, I regret to say that we have reason to believe
that, as in other countries throughout the world, violence against women
does occur. I would like to express our commitment to eliminating violence
against women and to creating institutional mechanisms so that women and
girls can report acts of violence against them in a safe and
cc)confidential environment. We wish to undertake an extensive study on
violence against women in order to promote ways of overcoming and
eliminating lt. Among other things, we would also work towards encouraging
the media to promote a positive and balanced portrayal of women. In
education, we aim at reaching 100% literacy, including basic legal
literacy for women, to empower women with knowledge of their rights.
Madam President,
Distinguished Delegates,
16. The Platform for Action to be adopted at this Conference is aimed at
establishing a basic group of priority actions to be carried out into the
next millenium.
17. Our concerns have been forwarded to this Conference through many
proposals, including the Jakarta Declaration of 1994 adopted by
Asia-Pacific nations and the Dhaka Resolution of 1995 adopted by SAARC
countries in July, this year.
Madam President,
Distinguished Delegates,
18. It is now Up to us to work towards achieving the goals of the Platform
for Action. Let us reaffirm our commitment towards the advancement of
women. Let us make the Fourth World Conference on Women a conference of
commitment and action. Let us act today, so that we may meet at the next
World Conference on Women, on an equal footing with men, to celebrate our
achievements.
Thank you, Madam President.